#10 JMU upsets #4 William and Mary
In front of a sold-out Zable Stadium crowd, #10 James Madison utilized a strong ground game, good defense overall and a key turnover conversion to come away with 20-14 at #4 William & Mary in the Colonial Athletic Association opener for both squads, Sept. 24. With the victory, the Dukes move to 3-1 on the year and 1-0 in league action, with the Tribe falling to 2-2 and 0-1 in conference play.
After a scoreless first period where both teams failed to convert fourth downs, including one deep in Tribe territory, the Dukes got on the scoreboard with the opening play of the second quarter. Redshirt-junior quarterbackJustin Thorpe (Richmond, Va./Varina) connected with redshirt-senior wide receiverKerby Long (Arlington, Va./Yorktown/Fork Union) for a 52-yard touchdown pass, which included Long hurtling a W&M defender at the Tribe 20 and breaking away from two others. Redshirt-sophomore kickerCameron Starke (Halifax, Va./Halifax County (West Virginia)) hit the point after and Madison had a 7-0 lead.
Madison again found the scoreboard on its next drive, moving the ball inside William & Mary’s 10. However, the drive stalled deep, forcing a field goal attempt from 26 yards out. Starke connected from the right hash on his fourth straight make, giving the Dukes a 10-0 lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half. The Dukes held through the remainder of the half and entered halftime with the 10-point advantage.
After being backed up to its own 1 on its second drive of the third quarter, William & Mary used three key pass plays to get on the board and complete a 99-yard drive. After a 34-yard completion from Michael Graham to Ryan Moody got them out of their own end zone, Graham connected two times with D.J. Mangas, including the final 38 yards for the touchdown. Drake Kuhn hit the point after and the margin was trimmed to three at 10-7 JMU with 3:52 to play in the third.
The Dukes’ defense made up for the previous drive the next time on the field, as redshirt-sophomoreStephon Robertson (Alexandria, Va./Edison) dislodged the ball from running back Keith McBridge and redshirt-freshman defensive tackleAnthony McDaniel (Upper Marlboro, Md./Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr.) fell on it to give JMU the ball on the W&M 24. Thorpe made a key run by freezing a Tribe defender for a 15-yard pickup to the Tribe 11. From there, three plays later, the Dukes got in the end zone on a bootleg pitch to redshirt-sophomore running back Dae’Quan Scott (Staunton, Va./Robert E. Lee), who outran three Tribe defenders to the left corner. Starke hit the point after and the lead was back to 10 at 17-7 with just under 14 minutes left to play.
Another JMU drive chewed up yardage and time on the clock, as the Dukes went 60 yards in 12 plays and taking more than seven minutes off the clock. W&M’s defense held JMU out of the end zone bdut Starke added a 34-yarder and the margin grew to 20-7 JMU with 4:17 remaining in the game.
William & Mary would not give up though, getting on the board one last time with a late 12-play, 79-yard drive. Graham connected with tight end Alex Gottlieb in the flat and he scored from 10 yards out to cut it back to 20-17. The Tribe then went for the onside kick but redshirt-freshman wide receiver Daniel Brown (Windsor, Va./Isle of Wright) skied for the ball and came down with it safely. The Dukes got one first down to run out the clock and seal the win.
JMU outgained W&M 340-252, with 271 of the Dukes’ yards coming via the ground game while the defense limited William & Mary to just 37 yards on the ground in 34 carries.. Madison held a significant advantage in time of possession, holding on to the ball 35:16 as compared to the Tribe’s 24:44.
Scott posted his third-consecutive 100-yard rushing game, with 26 carries for 112 yards and one touchdown, while Thorpe had a career-high 81 yards on 14 carries. Latney also was effective, carrying it nine times for 66 yards, a 7.3 yards per carry average. Thorpe was also 3-for-4 for 69 yards and one touchdown through the air. Redshirt-senior defensive tackleLamar Middleton (Newark, N.J./Shabazz (Syracuse) had eight tackles and 2.0 sacks to lead the Dukes, while Robertson added six tackles, 1.0 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and two pass breakups in the victory.
Grimes led the Tribe rushing with 23 carries for 70 yards, while Graham went 14-for-26 for 215 yards and two scores. Mangas led the receivers with six catches for 102 yards and one score.
The Dukes return home for three straight games, starting with the Homecoming clash with Richmond on Sat., Oct. 1. Kickoff at Bridgeforth Stadium is set for 3:30 p.m., with the game to be televised on the CAA Television package on Comcast.
Late rally falls short for #5 Richmond
Senior WR Tre Gray had a career night with 16 catches for 194 yards, but No. 5 Richmond’s furious fourth-quarter comeback fell short in a 45-43 shootout loss to No. 11 New Hampshire Saturday at Robins Stadium.
The Spiders (3-1, 0-1) put three touchdowns on the board in a frantic fourth-quarter but were back-broken when UNH QB Kevin Decker hit R.J. Harris for a quick-strike 47-yard touchdown that put the Wildcats (2-1, 1-0) up 45-36 with 2:45 left.
Richmond, though had one more answer as senior QB Aaron Corp, who also posted career numbers, marched the Spiders downfield with a 12-play, 77-yard drive, capped by a Kendall Gaskins one-yard touchdown with 28 seconds remaining that pulled Richmond within 45-43.
An onside kick ensured and Richmond kicker Wil Kamin blasted a line-drive that ricocheted off a UNH player and into the arms of diving Tre Gray. But the ball changed hands in the scrum and the officials ruled it belonged to the Wildcats, sealing the thriller at sold-out Robins Stadium in the CAA Football opener for both teams.
Corp finished the game 35-of-50 passing for 351 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The senior was a spotless five-for-five on the Spiders’ opening drive, passing for 53 yards and putting Richmond up 7-0 with his one-yard toss to Stephen Barnette. Corp completed his first nine of the game.
Two possessions later, Corp moved the Spiders into field-goal range following a Darryl Hamilton interception and Kamin drilled a 36-yarder that made it 10-0.
Richmond dominated the stat sheet, out-gaining the Wildcats 475-368 in total offense, owning a 13-minute advantage in time of possession and scoring points on all seven of its Red Zone trips (five touchdowns).
But things unraveled quickly and the Spiders went from up 10 to down 15, thanks in part to a pair of Corp interceptions on tipped balls that were returned for touchdowns. Randi Vines rumbled 60 yards for a score that gave the visitors a 14-10 lead early in the second quarter. Ten minutes later, Matt Evans swiped the ball out of the air and his 31-yard interception return gave UNH a 28-13 advantage.
Gaskins, who finished with 81 yards rushing and a career-high three touchdowns, got the first of his three scores on some trickery as he took a pitch on a fake field goal try and scored from six yards out, breathing life back into the Spiders late in the first half and cutting the deficit to 28-20.
Decker threw for 239 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for 48 yards and two more scores, scampered in from 12-yards on the opening possession of the second half to give UNH its 15-point advantage back.
The teams traded field goals before the Spiders 20-point fourth-quarter uprising. Kamin matched his career-high of three field goals made (36, 45 and 37 yards) and set a career high with 13 points scored.
For Gray, his 194-yard effort stands as the seventh-best single-game performance in school history and is the most yards by a Richmond receiver since Rod Boothes had 197 versus James Madison in 1992. His 16 catches ties the second-highest single-game performance in school history (16 by Walker Gillette vs. Mississippi State in 1969), only trailing 20 grabs by Gillette vs. Ohio in the 1968 Tangerine Bowl.
Gray is averaging 126.0 yards receiving this season and is now just 17 catches and 252 yards shy of the respective UR career records.
The loss snapped a six-game home winning streak for the Spiders, who hit the road next Saturday for another key CAA Football tilt at James Madison. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. Bridgeforth Stadium.
UR holds off VMI
Senior WR Tre Gray’s 96-yard, two-touchdown effort helped No. 6 Richmond build a 34-0 lead in third quarter and hold off VMI, 34-19, Saturday night at sold-out Robins Stadium.
Gray, who is averaging 103.3 yards receiving this season, matched his career-high with two touchdown receptions, and moved to a tie for 10th on Richmond’s career list with 12 touchdowns to lead his Spiders (3-0) to their ninth-consecutive win over the Keydets (0-3).
Senior QB Aaron Corp was 12-for-18 passing with 220 yards and two touchdowns and the Spiders feasted on VMI’s first-half miscues to build a 27-0 lead at the half and extend the margin to 34-0 midway through the third quarter.
Richmond opened the scoring with a dazzling special teams play early in the contest when freshman Rodney Barnes busted through the line and swatted away Cameron Murray’s punt. Sophomore WR Ben Edwards scooped up the loose ball and returned it 34 yards for the score.
VMI’s ensuing possession ended when senior S Colin Pehanick forced a Chaz Jones fumble that was pounced on by Jacob Pierce. Junior K Wil Kamin booted a pair of 31-yard field goals and Gray reeled in a 37-yard TD pass from Corp as the Spiders cashed in 13 points off three VMI fumbles – two of which came on muffed punts.
Gray found paydirt again on a four-yard TD reception to cap a four-play, 77-yard drive before halftime that put Richmond up 27-0. Two big pass plays set up that score as Corp hit junior TE Kevin Finney for 11 yards on second-and-17 and then connected with redshirt freshman WR Stephen Barnette for a 69-yard strike on third-and-six.
Finney finished with four catches for 28 yards, while Barnette established a career-high with 89 yards on three grabs. All three of Barnette’s catches moved the chains – two came on third-and-long situations.
Pehanick finished with six tackles, forced a fumble and recovered another. Junior LB Darius McMillan was in on a team-leading 11 tackles, while senior DB Tremayne Graham had eight stops and broke up three passes.
But VMI didn’t go quietly. A 74-yard kickoff return by Tracy Hairston resulted in a 28-yard field goal with seven minutes left in the third quarter that snapped the shutout.
A 21-yard touchdown strike from Eric Kordenbrock to Hairston made it 34-10 with 11:17 left and things got dicey when Kordenbrock hooked up with Mario Thompson for a 70-yard TD pass less than three minutes later.
Richmond punted on the ensuing drive and a 47-yard return from Trent White, along with a Spider penalty gave VMI first-and-goal at the nine. But Richmond’s defense bowed up, stopping Jones on third-and-goal at the one and forcing an incompletion on fourth down with five minutes left.
Richmond took a safety on punt in their end zone, and then stopped VMI again with just over a minute remaining to put the victory on ice.
Kordenbrock finished 15-of-35 passing for 231 yards and two touchdowns, while Thompson finished as the game’s leading receiver with two catches for 114 yards. Hairston rolled up 212 all-purpose yards thanks to his 55 yards through the air and 157 more on five kickoff returns.
For Richmond, junior Kendall Gaskins rushed 14 times for 67 yards and his third touchdown in as many games this season. Senior Garrett Turner carried for a career-high 21 times for 79 yards.
The Spiders are 3-0 for the first time since opening the 2009 season 8-0 and open CAA Football play next Saturday versus New Hampshire at Robin Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on Family Weekend.
#9 UR knocks off Wagner
Senior QB Aaron Corp threw for a career-high 236 yards and two touchdowns and No. 9 Richmond recovered from a balky first half to beat Wagner, 21-6, Saturday night at a sold-out Robins Stadium.
Corp put Richmond (2-0) on the board early, hitting sophomore WR Ben Edwards for a 56-yard touchdown pass on the game’s third play, but the Spiders leaned heavily on their defense after turnovers on the five-consecutive possessions after the touchdown.
Wagner managed just three points off its first-half takeaways, and Richmond took care of the ball in the second half, while rolling up 412 yards of total offense to secure its 13th-consecutive victory over non-conference FCS opponents in the regular season.
Junior LB Darius McMillan made 10 tackles, senior S Colin Pehanick had seven stops and an interception, while sophomore DE Kerry Wynn recorded two of Richmond’s three sacks as the Spiders limited Wagner (1-1) to just 189 yards of total offense (68 yards rushing).
Junior TE Kevin Finney hauled in a six-yard TD pass from Corp that capped a nine-play, 72-yard drive midway through the third quarter. A 32-yard hook-up from Corp to Stephen Barnette helped set-up the score that put Richmond up 14-3.
A 45-yard field goal from David Lopez cut the margin to 14-6 on Wagner’s next possession, but junior FB Kendall Gaskins, who finished with 98 yards on a career-high 24 carries, put the game on ice when he punched in a one-yard TD early in the fourth quarter.
Corp finished the night 16-of-25 passing for 236 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Senior RB Garrett Turner carried 15 times for 75 yards, while senior WR Tre Gray had six catches for 85 yards.
Richmond owned a seven-minute advantage in time of possessions and converted on seven of its 12 third-down attempts.
The Spiders remain home next Saturday to host long-time rival VMI at Robins Stadium. Kick off in the 87th all-time meeting with the Keydets is set for 6 p.m.
UNC rolls JMU
James Madison football spotted North Carolina an early 21-0 lead, and eventually fell to the hosts 42-10 in the season opener for both squads, Sept. 3. Madison falls to 0-2 all-time against the Tar Heels.
JMU began the game slowly, allowing UNC to score on three of its first four possessions. UNC sophomore quarterback Bryn Renner connected with senior wide receiver Dwight Jones for a 34-yard touchdown pass and senior Casey Barth followed with the extra point, giving UNC an early lead of 7-0 with less than four minutes gone. On the next possession, JMU was backed up deep and forced to punt, and Carolina’s Todd Harrelson returned the ball 19 yards to the JMU 22. Two plays later, true freshman running back Giovani Bernard ran 12 yards for the score. Barth recorded his second extra point of the game, giving the Tar Heels a 14-0 advantage with just under five minutes left to play in the opening period. Early in the second quarter, senior running back Ryan Houston rushed for the third touchdown of the game for UNC, this time a 1-yarder. Barth once again cleared the goal post, bringing Carolina’s lead to 21-0.
JMU tallied its first points of the 2011 season when redshirt-junior quarterback
Justin Thorpe (Richmond, Va./Varina) connected with redshirt-freshman wide reciever Daniel Brown (Windsor, Va./Isle of Wight) for a 41-yard touchdown pass. Sophomore kicker Cameron Starke (Halifax, Va./Halifax County (West Virginia)) completed the point-after attempt, making the score 21-7 late in the second quarter. However, Carolina responded immediately, cover 67 yards in just 1:26, with Bernard going the final 14 yards into the end zone with just over a minute remaining in the half and the extra point gave UNC a 28-7 halftime advantage.
The Dukes opened the second half with a 19-play drive over 10:06. Starke capped off the 55-yard drive, that included two successful fourth-down conversions, with a 31-yard field goal. The 19-play march for JMU is the longest scoring drive under Head Coach Mickey Matthews.
Carolina’s Renner pushed into the endzone for an early fourth quarter touchdown, scoring on a 1-yard sneak to push the lead to 35-10. The final touchdown for UNC came with under nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter on a 21-yard pass from Renner to Jones, providing the final 42-10 margin.
UNC outgained JMU in total yardage 461 to 211 and in rushing yards 184-59. The Dukes held a time of possession advantage of 31:04 to 28:56 and committed no turnovers in the game.
Redshirt-sophomore tailback Jordan Anderson (Chantilly, Va./Westfield) led JMU in rushing with 40 yards on 13 carries and Thorpe was 11-for-15 through the air for 152 yards and one touchdown. Redshirt-sophomore linebacker Stephon Robertson (Alexandria, Va./Edison) tallied eight tackles, including 0.5 tackles for loss, to lead the Dukes. Redshirt-freshman safety Dean Marlowe (Queens, NY/Holy Cross) had his first collegiate interception in the second quarter and added four tackles during the game to the effort.
UNC’s Renner set a new ACC record for pass completion percentage by completing 22 of his 23 pass attempts for 277 yards and two scores. The .957 percentage is now second in NCAA history for a passer with 20-29 attempts. Jones had nine receptions for 116 yards and two scores, while Bernard was the game’s leading rusher with nine carries for 64 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
JMU returns to Harrisonburg next Saturday for the home opener against Central Connecticut State at 6 p.m. The game will be the first in the newly-renovated Bridgeforth Stadium.
Richmond upsets Duke in opener
An early chess match turned into an entertaining second half and No. 16 Richmond held off Duke, 23-21, Saturday night at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C. The victory is the first for interim head coach Wayne Lineburg and is the Spiders’ third-straight at Duke since 2006.
Senior QB Aaron Corp threw for 193 yards and touchdown, while senior WR Tre Gray reeled a career-high 129 yards on a career-best eight catches. Redshirt freshman WR Stephen Barnette’s first career catch was a six-yard TD grab that opened the scoring in the second quarter.
The Spiders (1-0) were limited to just 95 yards rushing, but junior FB Kendall Gaskins eight-yard TD put Richmond up 17-14 in the third quarter and senior RB Garrett Turner’s one-yard plunge was the eventual game-winner with 10:12 left on the clock.
Richmond’s defense forced two key fumbles and junior S Cooper Taylor – a Georgia Tech transfer – made his Spider in hard-hitting fashion. Taylor recorded a game-high 14 tackles, had a tackle for loss, forced a fumble and broke up a pass. Junior LB Darrius McMillan was in on 12 stops and senior S Colin Pehanick set a career-high with nine tackles (six solo). Pehanick also forced a fumble.
Corp’s arm set-up the Spiders’ late go-ahead score and Turner’s one-yard TD run put the visitors up 23-21 with 10 minutes left. Corp hit Kevin Finney for 26 yards early in drive, and found Gray for hook-ups of 12 and 33 yards to put the Spiders in the Red Zone for the fifth time on the night.
And on fourth-and-goal at the one, Turner punched it for his sixth career score. Richmond converted on four of its five Red Zone trips and scored all 23 points from inside the 20.
The Spiders, though, had to survive some late-game drama and Duke kicker Will Snyderwine missed a 28-yard field goal wide right with 1:43 left, then came up short on a desperation 59-yard try as time expired.
After a scoreless first quarter, Taylor made his presence felt by laying the lumber on Duke QB Sean Renfree and knocking the ball loose deep in Duke territory. Brandon Scott pounced on the loose ball at the eight-yard line. Three plays later, Corp hit Barnette with a perfectly-place ball for the six-yard score.
But Duke (0-1) answered right back on their next possession and Desmond Scott’s 29-yard run knotted the game at 7-7.
Another turnover in the shadow of Richmond’s end zone led to a field goal as Pehanick stripped Brandon Braxton and McMillan recovered the fumble at the Duke 26. Five plays later, freshman Remington Hinshaw’s 29-yard field goal put the Spiders back up 10-7 with 4:18 left in the half.
Duke would run out of time deep in Richmond territory and the game went to halftime 10-7.
The lead changed hands three times in a wild third quarter.
The ground game got rolling for Duke, and the Blue Devils compiled an 11-play, 79- yard drive, capped by a six-yard TD run from Brandon Connette to claim their first lead of 14-10 at the 8:23 mark.
Gaskins’ touchdown run finished up a long drive by the Spiders to put Richmond back in front with five minutes left in third, but the Blue Devils countered again with a lengthy drive and seized a 21-17 advantage in the closing seconds of the third.
Renfree finished 23-of-33 passing for 201 yards, while Juwan Thompson and Scott each surpassed the 80-yard rushing mark. Duke out-gained Richmond 379-288.
Richmond opens its home schedule Saturday night versus Wagner. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. ET and good seats are still available for the first-ever night game at Robins Stadium. Call 1-877-SPIDER-1 or purchase them online at RichmondSpiders.com.
Postgame Quotes: Richmond Interim Head Coach Wayne Lineburg
Opening statement
“Just a tremendous win for our kids. I think they’ve hung together over some adverse conditions over the last few weeks and we’re all just proud of them and we’re proud of the staff for sticking together and doing things the right way. We’ve got great kids in this program and it showed tonight. They played hard and got after it, and it was a great win for the program.”
On the third quarter
“I think both teams just kind of looked like they found a little bit of rhythm on offense. On our side of the ball I think Aaron [Corp] and Tre [Gray] made some plays out there, and Kendall Gaskins started getting the run game going. Those guys, they kind of looked like they started to run the ball and maybe started to wear us down just a little bit, but our guys hung in there and when it mattered really made some plays at the end that obviously won the game for us.”
On adversity over the last week
“I just think it’s about these kids and how they hang together and how tough they are. I just think it’s a great group of kids that works hard and they believe in each other. It’s more about them than anything else.”
On the defense
“Every time we needed a play those guys kept stepping up and making a play.”
On Tre Gray’s big catches
“I wouldn’t trade him for anybody. He’s as a tough a kid as they come. He made a lot of huge plays and a lot of runs after catches that were crucial in the game.”
Dukes aim for hot start and strong finish in 2011
Finish what you start. That’s the goal – simple, but maybe not so simple – for JMU football in 2011.
“We’re expecting to finish. That’s our main goal. We’re trying to be CAA champs and then national champions. That’s always our goal,” said Dae’Quan Scott, a redshirt sophomore tailback from Staunton.
“We have a bad taste in our mouth. So the preparations have been focused on, We have to win. There’s no excuses this year,” said Roane Babington, a redshirt senior offensive lineman and former teammate of Scott at R.E. Lee.
James Madison was the talk of the college-football world early in the 2010 season after its historic 21-16 upset win at Virginia Tech. But the wheels came off the Dukes Bandwagon down the stretch, and JMU went all the way from the top of the national polls in I-AA to out of the playoffs for a second consecutive year.
With one national title (2004) on display at Bridgeforth Stadium, the pressure to win another is a fact of life around the JMU program.
Adding to the pressure – 2011 will mark the first season in the newly expanded Bridgeforth, which can now accommodate 25,000 fans.
“Every year, we start out saying in the first meeting, Our goal is to win the conference and win the championship. We never think we’re not going to play in January. And then with the additions to the stadium, 25,000 strong, that really does add a little bit of pressure to us,” Babington said.
“The expectations are high. As you can see, 25K, that speaks for itself. We’re not going 25K to come out here and lose games. That’s just not going to happen,” said Justin Thorpe, the 2009 CAA Rookie of the Year who missed most of 2010 with a knee injury, and who is part of a battle for the starting-quarterback job in 2011 with Kansas State transfer Billy Cosh and redshirt freshman Jace Edwards.
“When they recruited me, this is what they pitched to me. I’m so happy to see it all going according to plan. It’s going to be amazing to see 25,000 purple shirts in that stadium. I can’t wait to see the streamers flying when the offense gets into the end zone,” Thorpe said.
